Lost In You
by AresFireGirl
Summary: Peeta's closed himself off from everyone. He thinks the worst of himself and doesn't want to let anyone in, not even his best friends Gale and Thresh. Katniss has been in love with him for as long as she can remember. Maybe she can help him be happy for the first time in his life.
1. Wake Up, Katniss!

Chapter 1

** Katniss:**

_Beep… Beep… Beep… _I groan as I roll over and hit my alarm to make it stop beeping in my ear. I fall out of bed and stumble to the bathroom to get ready for my first day of Junior year. I wash my face, brush my teeth and braid my hair, same as I do every day. I pull on my jeans and new Three Days Grace shirt, followed by my black Chucks, just as I hear my cousin honk the horn letting me know he's outside. I run downstairs to grab something to eat and find Prim by the door with some toast for me.

"Ready, Katniss?" she asks as I walk toward her.

"Yep, thanks Prim," I say and smile at her. She just smiles back and goes through the door so I can lock up. Today is her first day of Freshman year and the first time she's riding to school with Gale and me.

We can hear his music as soon as we step out of the door. Apparently it's a Marilyn Manson kind of morning. Prim wrinkles her nose at the noise, but I just smile a little as we approach the Jeep.

"Hey Gale!" we both shout over the music.

"Hey Kat! Hey Prim! Are you guys excited for school?!"he asks in his fake nerdy voice. We just laugh and roll our eyes. We don't say much on the way, since Prim's already texting her friends and Gale and I are too busy listening to Manson.

As we pull into a parking spot, I see my two best friends, Madge and Johanna, waiting for me by the gate. There are only a few things I actually enjoy about going to Coriolanus Snow High School. The first would be my best friends. Johanna I've known since we both were pretty much in diapers, but we didn't meet Madge until 6th grade. The three of us have been inseparable ever since. Other than Prim and Gale, they're the only people who actually understand me and that I trust.

The second reason is that my Uncle Haymitch works here as an English teacher for the juniors and seniors, which means I get to be in his class this year. Uncle Haymitch is my Mom's younger brother and has been there for us more and more lately since my Dad's been going out of town for work for longer periods of time.

Now we come to the third reason why I like this sucky school. Peeta Mellark. He has the most amazing blue eyes and shaggy blond hair, which is a big contrast to the dark clothes he always wears. He's a good bit taller than me and built like a football player, though he doesn't play. He's been Gale's best friend almost as long as Johanna and I have known each other. It feels like I've been in love with him for even longer than that, but he only sees me as Gale's little cousin. He'll never see me as anything more than the little girl with 2 braids following his best friend around, but I can't help the hope I have that maybe one day that'll change.

I walk up to Madge and Jo as Prim walks off to find her friends. "Hey Guys," I say as I join them, then glance over at Peeta. He's talking with Gale and Thresh, they're other best friend. While Gale and Thresh start laughing, Peeta merely smirks. _I wonder what's so funny…_ I don't get much time to contemplate it, though, because the next thing I know Jo snaps her fingers in front of my face.

"Back to Earth, Kat. You're staring again," she says as her and Madge both smile at me.

"You know, you could always try talking to him. You never know, maybe he secretly likes you, too," says Madge. Now they're both giving me their knowing, hopeful looks they always get when we have a conversation about Peeta. Which seems to be every other day now. I sigh and look down.

"You guys know he doesn't see me like that. He probably just thinks I'm Gale's dorky little cousin and that's all he'll ever see. I wish I could make him see me differently, but I don't know how. I don't even know what kind of girl he likes…" I trail off as I look over at him again. He's looking at Gale as he talks, but has the same almost sad expression he always does on his face. Well, almost always. The only other expression I've seen on him is relaxed and that's only when we've all been at Gale's on Saturday nights as he gets high with Gale and Thresh. I don't smoke with them, Jo's the only one of us that does, but I really like the relaxed look he gets on his face. His sad expression makes my heart hurt just to see it. _I wonder why he always so sad… I wish he'd trust me enough to tell me… _

I look back at my friends to see them whispering and glancing at me. "Really guys? You can't wait until I'm not here? Geeze… Let's go to class." I roll my eyes and walk away.

**Peeta:**

I hate this place. If it wasn't for Gale and Thresh, I wouldn't be here. I'd probably get a full time job somewhere and move away. Then I'd only let a few people know where I am. Just Gale and Thresh. Maybe Katniss. No. I can't think like that. I can't let anyone close to this horrible life of mine, especially not her. She wouldn't want me anyway.

_Tap tap tap… _I'm brought out of my thoughts by Thresh tapping on the window of my car. I open the door and get out. We see Gale pull into the parking lot as we walk to the gates of the school. He has Katniss riding with him, as usual, but Prim has joined them today. _Katniss… No! Don't go there Peeta. _

"You ok, dude?" Thresh asks me. I just shrug and look down while he gives me a sad look and shakes his head. "You can't keep going like this Peet. You can talk to Gale and I. You know that," he says just as Gale walks up.

"Hey guys. What's up?" asks Gale as he joins us. Thresh shakes his head, still looking at me, while I just shrug. "Why so glum today?"

"Peeta's looking a little down today." He says still staring at me. "I'm serious man, you can talk to us. About anything."

"Yeah, Peet. We're here for you no matter what it is," says Gale. I give them both my small smile, just an upturn of the corners of my lips, and nod.

"I know guys. Thanks." I say looking up at them. They both nod, but then Thresh glances away and smirks. "What?" I ask.

He nudges Gale. "Oh nothing…" Then they both start laughing and I just smirk at their stupidity.

"You two are ridiculous. You know that, right?" They just laugh harder and I roll my eyes and glance around. I catch sight of Katniss just as she starts walking away from her friends and they glance from her to me before they follow after her. _I wonder what that was about? Could she maybe like me? No. She'd never like someone like me. I'm just her cousin's stupid friend. She'd never want someone as messed up and disappointing as me. No one could want me. _I sigh and turn back to my friends and see them staring at me. "What?" I ask again.

"Why don't you ask her out?" Gale asks.

"What are you talking about? Her who?" I ask confused. They both laugh.

"Katniss, of course." They say at the same time, then laugh at my confused expression. "I think she likes you, Peeta." Gales says as I just start shaking my head.

"No, she doesn't. She couldn't," I say, then look down. "And I don't want her, or anyone else to." I say then turn around and start walking away as the bell rings.

_They don't understand. I could never bring someone into this shitty life that I have. I could never let anyone get that close to me. They would just get hurt. I would bring them down to the same horrible level that I'm at. Besides, she's right… I don't deserve to have someone love me._


	2. Schedules

**Chapter 2**

**Katniss:**

I sit in homeroom waiting for my new schedule, being completely bored. I'm not really sure why it's taking so long, but it wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for Glimmer and Sparkle Douglas being in here, too. They're twins and have to be the meanest people in this whole school. They think they can get away with it, though, because they're perfect, popular and rich. It's a shame that most of the guys in this school think they're so hot because of their blond hair, blue-green eyes, and huge boobs. It would be different if they were smart or something, not just evil and sneaky. _God, I hate them so much. Why couldn't their parents just pay for boarding school or something? _ Just as I think that, they both turn and sneer at me. So I just smile right back and wave, which makes them both just turn back around and start whispering. _Please if I cared about what you think, I'd be just as shallow and dumb as you._

I guess I wasn't paying enough attention, because the next thing that I know, the bell rings and I look down to find my schedule and locker number on my desk. I go to find my locker and find Madge at one 3 down from mine.

"Awesome! Hey Madge!" I almost yell. She jumps a little and turns around with a big smile.

"Oh! Hey Kat! How was homeroom?" she asks as she turns back to her locker and closes it.

"Ok I guess. Glimmer and Sparkle were there being their _charming_ selves. But it was fine other than that. How was yours?" I stuff the things I don't need right now in my locker, close it and turn back to her.

"It was fine, just boring. What classes do you have?" She pulls out her schedule and waits for me to get mine.

"Ah… Here it is," I say pulling it out. Apparently we have 1st period Pre-Calculus, 3rd period History, and lunch together. "Well, two classes and lunch is better than nothing, right?" I say smiling at her.

"Of course! I wonder what Jo has. Do you want to see if we can find her before the warning bell?" she asks as we start walking. I just nod and look back at my schedule. Other than Pre-Cal and Music Appreciation, I have2nd period Gym, 4th period Art, 5th period English Composition, and 6th A.P. Physics. _Crap, that's supposed to be a senior class. I'm so gonna fail! Maybe there'll be someone I know in there who can help me study… _

"God, Madge, they gave me A.P. Physics 6th period! Why'd they do that?" I whine at her. She just laughs and shakes her head.

"Maybe because you've already passed all of the other sciences? Miss Smarty Pants!" she laughs some more and rolls her eyes as I pout.

"But it's going to be so weird being with a bunch of seniors." I sigh. "All well, I just hope I don't fail." I look back down and we keep walking out into the courtyard in the middle of the school. Just as I hear Madge start to say something, I run right into someone and start to fall to the ground. Then I feel arms around me and look up into blue eyes that are so amazing that they can only be one person's. _Peeta._

"Shit! Peeta, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you ok?" I can feel my cheeks getting extremely red as I stare at him. His lips turn up in his almost smirk and I look down at my feet.

"Yeah. Are you ok?" He's still watching me with his perfect blue eyes and I blush even more.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish I had a hole to die in," I mumble.

"What?" he asks. I just shake my head and glance at him. "Ok, well, I need to get to class. I'll see you guys later." We both nod and he walks off.

"Well, that was embarrassing. How about that hole now, Kat?" Madge asks and grins at me. I just roll my eyes and start walking again. _I knew he'd never notice me…_

I sigh. "Let's go find Jo." We start walking but don't get very far when Madge sees her. "Jo!" I yell. She hears and meets us by the hallway to PreCal.

"Hey guys. What classes do you two have?" she asks. We all get out our schedules and compare them. Johanna and I have 2nd period Gym, lunch and 5th period English Composition together. I sigh. That just leaves 4th period Art and 6th period A.P. Physics left.

Madge and I leave Jo and head to PreCal. It's so easy that I almost take a nap, but then Madge starts writing a note and passes it to me.

_"Did you see the way Peeta was staring at you?"_

_"Yeah, he probably just thinks I'm really weird and couldn't get away fast enough."_

_"No. I think he likes you."_

_"Peeta doesn't like anyone. Ask Gale. Speaking of which. When are you going to claim my cousin?" _I smile as I hand the note back to her. She reads it and glares at me before writing something quickly.

_"Not funny Katniss!"_ I just shrug and try not to laugh as she continues to glare at me. I know they would never admit it, but I really do think they like each other. We continue joking back and forth, only half paying attention to the teacher to take notes. When the bell rings, I leave Madge and head for Gym. _I'm so glad we don't have to change on the first day._

**Peeta:**

Trigonometry class 1st period was really boring. I sat at the back in the corner by the window and drew in my notebook. I ended up drawing the woods at night with a full moon. _Not bad, but it could be better. _I fold it up and put it in my pocket as the bell rings. _Ugg… Gym. _As I walk to the gym, I see Gale and Thresh.

"Hey Gale, Thresh. Where are you two headed?" I ask as I join them.

"Gym. How about you?" asks Thresh.

"Same." We start walking again. As we enter the gym, I look around at all of the people. _Ugg… There's Cato and Marvel. I hate them so much. _In elementary school, they would always try to bully Gale, Thresh and I. I don't know if they thought they could take all three of us or if they just thought I didn't get tortured enough at home. _No, they couldn't have known about that. Could they? Gale and Thresh don't even know…_ Either way, I'm just glad we finally got to kick their asses in middle school. They've been keeping their distance since then. _Too bad, though. I wouldn't mind going for round 2. Especially since we're a lot bigger than them now._

I follow Gale and Thresh further into the gym. As I start to look around again, I almost run into Gale. I look up to see they both have stopped walking. When I look around them, I see Katniss and Johanna sitting on the bleachers. As they start to talk, I sit down one row behind Johanna and a few feet away. I lean back against the row behind me and start to zone out. _I hope Mother's not home from her trip yet..._

**Katniss:**

When I saw Gale and Thresh walking over to Johanna and me, I got kind of excited. I don't usually get to have classes with them, so we really only get to hang out on the weekends. It's not until we start talking that I notice Peeta standing behind them. My heart starts beating faster as he walks over beside Jo and sits down. He leans back and I notice he has that empty, sad expression on his face. _I wonder why he's so sad. I really wish there was something I could do…_

"Right, Katniss?" Jo says.

"Huh?" I ask completely confused. "Sorry, I must have spaced for a minute there."

"I'm sure you did, Brainless," she mumbles. Just as she opens her mouth again to speak, I whistle blows. I turn to see the coaches walking into the gym from the locker rooms. As Gale and Thresh move to sit behind Johanna and me, I glance at Peeta. He's staring at me, but looks away after only a second. I sigh. _Oh Peeta… If only you could see me… _

"Ok kids, today we're going to let you have a free day. You can do whatever you want, but make sure you get your gym locker numbers and combinations," yells Coach Enobaria.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Johanna asks. I just shrud as Gale and Thresh look at each other smiling.

"Basketball," they say together.

* * *

**AN: Because I forgot to in my first chapter, I'm going to go ahead and state the obvious: I did not write The Hunger Games and I do not own these characters. **

**Also, Thank you guys for all of the positive feed back and liking my story so much. I hope you liked this chapter just as much. :-)**


	3. Basketball and New Friends

**Peeta:**

"Peet, are you playing?" Gale asks me. I give him a confused look because I must've been more zoned out then I thought. "Basketball? Do you want to play?" he repeats slowly. I just roll my eyes.

"Nah, I'm ok. You guys go ahead." Usually I would play, but I'm not really up for it. Maybe I'll just draw some more. I start to get out my pencil and notebook when I hear a quiet voice.

"I can sit here with you if you like," says Katniss quietly. _Why would she want to sit here with me, of all people?_

"No, it's ok. I'll be fine by myself. You go have fun." I reply. She just nods, stands up and walks over to Johanna, Gale and Thresh. I can't help but notice she looks a little sad. _Did she actually want to sit with me? No, she couldn't have. No one would want to miss out on something to sit with me. _I shake my head and go back to my notebook. I start drawing the lilies my dad got for Mother for their anniversary a few weeks ago, but I end up drawing them as dead and wilting. I sigh. I turn the page and try to think of something to draw when I hear Johanna cheering. I look up to see Katniss shooting the ball from the middle of the court just as Gale tried to take it. It goes in perfectly. _That was amazing._ I smile a little as I watch her stick her tongue out at Gale. He just laughs and rolls his eyes. Thresh comes back with the ball and they start playing again. It doesn't take long for the girls to get the ball back and Johanna makes a slam dunk. I'm pretty impressed. Gale and Thresh are getting their asses handed to them by two girls.

"Maybe I should've played. You two look like you need the help!" I call to them. The girls both laugh while Thresh and Gale both glare at me and flip me off. I just smirk a little and shake my head.

"Ok. Whoever makes this point wins," says Thresh.

I see Katniss and Johanna smile at each other then go after the ball again. Thresh throws the ball to Gale, but Katniss comes out of nowhere and steals it. She passes it to Johanna who throws it in effortlessly. I start clapping quietly and the girls start bowing with huge smiles on their faces. Gale and Thresh hang their heads in defeat and they all walk back over by me. _I'm kind of glad I didn't play now. That was pretty entertaining. _

They start talking as they sit down and I just go back to my drawing.

**Katniss: **

That was so much fun. Though, I wouldn't have minded missing it one bit just to sit with Peeta. He actually started to look almost happy while he watched us play, but now he's back to drawing and isn't even talking with us. I sigh and turn to Jo and find her watching me.

"What?" I ask a little defensively. I don't like when people stare at me, it makes me uncomfortable.

"Oh, nothing, Brainless. Just wondering when you'll actually find some guts," she says while smirking at me.

"What?" asks Gale. I just shake my head at him and look at me shoes.

"It's nothing, just an inside joke we have." I say nervously.

"I'll tell you later," whispers Jo to Gale and Thresh. I look up at her horrified.

"No, you won't," I say a little too loud. I glance at Peeta as he looks up and we make eye contact for a second before he looks back down. As I watch him draw, part of a song comes to mind. It's so perfect for how I feel about him and I wish I could play it for him…

Somehow I found  
A way to get lost in you  
Let me inside  
Let me get close to you  
Change your mind  
I'll get lost  
If you want me to  
Somehow I found  
A way to get lost in you.

Maybe someday I'll get to listen to it with him. _I wonder if he would understand… but I probably won't get the chance. I can still hope can't I? _

The bell rings, so I grab my stuff and head to History. When I get in the classroom, I find Madge and take the seat next to her. We don't get to talk much because the teacher comes in and hands us a bunch of papers. She starts telling us about everything we'll cover this year and when there's only about 15 minutes left of class, a piece of paper slides onto my desk.

_"How was gym?" _Madge. I smile and get out my pen.

"_Awesome. Jo and I whooped Gale and Thresh's asses in a basketball game. Even Peeta looked a little impressed. J" _I slide the paper back to her. She looks a little shocked but then covers her mouth with her hand to stop from laughing.

_"I'm sure he was. ;-) I'm impressed and I wasn't even there!" _She slides it back and I smile.

_"I wish you could've been there with us. That would have made it perfect." _I smile and the paper back to her. She reads it and starts grinning.

_"Are you sure it wasn't perfect enough with Peeta there?"_ she writes back. I sigh.

_"No, he didn't even want me to sit with him." _

_ "Aww Kat, I doubt it was because he doesn't like you," _she writes back looking sad. I shake my head frowning.

_"It's pretty obvious he doesn't like me, Madge. And I'd be ok with that if he was actually happy. You know?" _

_ "Yeah, I know, Kat. But what can we do? He won't talk to anyone."_

I sigh as the bell rings. "Time for lunch, Madge. Let's go find Jo." I say as we both get up. We're both quiet as we walk to the lunchroom. We start looking around for Jo, but I can't find her. I turn to Madge. "Do you see her?"

"Yeah, and you're not going to believe this," she says shaking her head and smiling. She points to the back corner and I turn. I see Johanna in the corner at a table with Gale, Peeta and Thresh. They're with a guy and a girl I don't know. "Come on Kat." We walk over and Madge sits next to Gale. I take the only seat left, next to Peeta and on Gale's other side. "Hey guys!" Madge says smiling. They all say "Hey" back.

I nod. "Who's this?" I ask gesturing to the new kids.

"This is Finnick and Annie. They're both seniors in my English class with your uncle," explains Gale. "They just moved here from California."

I smile and look at Annie first. She's really pretty with long brown hair, the brightest green eyes I've ever seen and a small stature. She looks tiny compared to the tall boy sitting next to her. Finnick is extremely handsome with shaggy copper hair and dark green eyes. He's is incredibly attractive in his own right, but nothing compared to the blue eyed boy next to me.

"Why the hell would you leave California for Pennsylvania?!" exclaims Johanna. We all just laugh, except Peeta, who just does him small smirk.

"That's Jo's way of asking what brings you here," I say still laughing.

"Both of our families just moved here, because our dads got transferred by their jobs. They scientist for the Crane company," explains Finnick. We all start asking Finnick and Annie questions about California, them moving, everything. I notice Peeta's be really quiet, so I glance at him and see he's drawing again. I lean forward a little and see that he's drawing a beautiful woman with light hair.

"That's amazing," I whisper. He hears me and looks up. "Can I ask who it is?"

He looks back at the picture for a long time before answering. "My mother." He looks at the picture a little longer before closing the notebook and putting it in his backpack. I notice he has that really sad look on his face again, so I reach out to touch him arm. Just as I lay my hand on his arm, he flinches slightly and pulls his arm away.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. He just shakes his head, not meeting my eyes. He stands up and grabs his things before leaving. I watch him leaving, trying to figure out what I did wrong.

**Peeta:**

I can't believe I drew Mother. It was what I remember her looking like when I was little, when everything was still good. I can't figure out why I would draw her. I hate my mother. She's a horrible, terrible person and she's the reason why my brothers left. I can still see the looks on their faces the day Mother kicked Bry out for getting his girl pregnant and when Danny snuck out of the window while she slept, promising to come back for me after he found Bry. Bry was kicked out over 3 years ago and Danny left almost 2 years ago. To say it's been rough is an understatement. It wasn't so bad when I had my brothers, but since it's been just me it's been unbearable. And it doesn't help that I still miss my dad…

I shake my head to clear my thought as I walk into the art room for my free period. Miss Portia doesn't mind me being in here, because I just draw or paint quietly at the back of the room. I set up some paints and paper by the seat in the back corner of the room by the window. I hear the bell ring and glance up to see two huge silver-grey eyes looking at me. We stare at each other for a few seconds before she looks away. I sigh and go back to my painting. _Stop letting yourself hope, dummy._ I start painting the sky outside the window and I'm so focused on it that I don't realize how long I've been there until the bell rings. I blink and look around just to catch a glimpse of Katniss leaving the room. I look back to my painting to see the sky of it is not the same blue outside the window, but a very familiar grey.


	4. Some How I Found

**AN: **Sorry it took so long! I got started on this chapter and just kind of lost track of how long it was getting. So I broke it up into 2 chapters. BUT the upside is Peeta and Katniss finally get to talk. :-)

PS~ Thanks to marycontary82 for the idea with the note.

Hope you guys like it!

**Chapter 4:**

**Katniss:**

I cannot draw to save my life, which is going to make having art difficult by itself. Add into that the fact that Peeta was in the back of the room today, it just make me unable to concentrate even more. I glanced at him as I was leaving the room and he was still completely focused on his painting. _I wonder what he was painting. I bet it was just as beautiful as the picture of his mom… I wonder why he looked so sad talking about her…_

When I walk into English, I see my uncle writing on the board. I smile and walk up to him. "Hey old man!" I laugh as he scowls at me. We resemble each other in the way we scowl. That's pretty much where the resemblance stops, though, because he has blond hair and blue eyes like my mom and Prim, where I have my dad's dark hair and grey eyes.

"What do you want, sweetheart?" he asks trying to keep a smile off of his face.

"I'm in your class this period," I say and he starts smiling at me. "So is Jo." He scowls at me and I start laughing again.

"Oh for shit's sake… I ought to make a visit to Trinkett and find out why she hates me so much," he grumbles quietly.

"Oh come on Uncle Haymitch! You know you're going to love having both of us in here!" I start laughing harder as he glares at me. "And besides, Miss Effie doesn't hate you. I think she likes you." I wink. "Why else would she _bless_ you with us two little angels?" I fold my hands under my chin, smile sweetly and bat my eyes at him. He chuckles and rolls his eyes.

"Go sit down with your evil little friend, sweetheart," he says still chuckling as I skip away and sit next to Jo.

"Suck up, much?" Jo laughs as I get out my book and notebook.

"Just one of the perks of having your favorite uncle as your teacher." I grin.

"He's your only uncle, Brainless," she says rolling her eyes and still laughing at me.

"Which just makes him my favorite even more." I smile. I honestly don't know how Haymitch could be a better uncle. When my dad's away working and my mom's at the hospital for her shifts, he always calls or comes over to check on Prim and I, when we're not over at his house watching movies and spending the night. He loves cooking us delicious dinners, but my favorite nights are when we get to make our own pizzas. They're so incredible! He even lets us bring Madge, Jo and Prim's best friend, Rue.

My mom told me Uncle Haymitch has always wanted kids, so I guess it was just natural for him to get so close with Prim and I. Though, when I've asked him why he hasn't had any kids yet, he just tells me he hasn't met the right person. Though, I think he has, he just doesn't want to admit it to himself. Haymitch and Miss Effie Trinkett get on each other's nerves so bad, but they're perfect for each other. Mom, Prim, my friends and I have all been hoping they'd see it, but they haven't yet. Seems like they're fighting it pretty hard.

I'm brought out of my thoughts by my uncle calling for our attention. He starts talking about the first book we'll be reading and the paper we will have to do on it. He tells us the will be The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I start smiling when he says my favorite book and I see Johanna out of the corner of my eye rolling her eyes and shaking her head at me. I decide to write her a note.

_"What's with the mood this afternoon, Jo?" _I slip her the note while Haymitch is writing on the board.

_ "What do you mean?" _She hands it back trying to look innocent.

_"You're in more of a bad mood than you usually are. What's up, Jo?"_

_ "Oh, it's nothing." _She sighs before she hands it back. _Did Johanna Mason just sigh?! _

_ "Come on, Jo. Talk to me. Maybe I can help." _I hand it back and she just sits there thinking for a few moments after reading it. I turn back to focus on Haymitch.

"Alright, for your homework, I would like for you guys to read the first two chapters and answer these questions," he says as he hands out the papers. "We're going to have a discussion on it tomorrow, so make sure you answer all of them. Ok, I'll let you guys go ahead and pack up your stuff, because the bell's about to ring." As he takes a seat behind his desk, I turn back to Johanna. I raise my eyebrow and wait for her to explain what's wrong.

She sighs again. "Ok. I met this guy in my 4th period. He's hot, but a huge asshole. He kept being a smartass about everything and wouldn't leave me alone."

"So… He's perfect for you, huh?" I laugh, but she just glares at me.

"That's the thing, though. I don't know if I hate him or if I want to take him home with me." This time we both laugh.

"Well, you could just give it some time and try getting to know him better." She glares at me again. _Oh, right… This is Jo we're talking about. _"Or you could just go ahead and try taking him home with you." I wink at her and she laughs.

"That's sounds more like it. Go for a test drive!" We're both still laughing when the bell rings and we separate to go to our 6th periods. _God, she's crazy._

When I get to Mrs. King's class, there are only a few people already in there, so I just take a seat at a table by the window near the back. I rest my chin on my hand and stare out of the window. _I wonder who the guy is that Jo met. He must be a very interesting kind of person to catch her attention. Maybe if we're all going over to Gale's this weekend she can invite him. I'm sure any guy that Jo likes would fit in nicely with Gale, Thresh and Peeta… _The bell rings and I jump a little. I glance at the still open door and my heart stops. It seems as if just thinking his name has conjured him. Peeta glances around and our eyes meet before I quickly look back out of the window. _There's no way. He had to have gotten the wrong room! _I see someone sit in the chair next to me and I glance over to see a pair of familiar blue eyes staring at me. My heart stops again. _Holy shit… _

"Hey Kat." Peeta says quietly. He stares at me for another brief moment, then looks down at the table. _Why does he look so sad again?_

"Hey Peeta." I say just as quietly. When he looks back up at me, my heart starts beating really fast. There's a slightly different expression on his face than he usually has. His eyes are what make the difference. We just stare at each other as I try to read the emotion in his eyes. _He never shows any emotions other than being bored and sad. But right now he looks almost… hopeful? _Before I can try to figure out why he would be hopeful, let alone be looking at _me_ and looking hopeful, the bell rings and he looks away. Mrs. King comes in and starts talking right away.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to A.P. Physics!" She smiles at all of us before she continues. "First of all, you may all call me Miss Cecelia, because I feel like Mrs. King is just too formal. Ok, let's get started since there are a lot of things you need to know for the test at the end of the year." I sigh. _There's no way I'll ever pass this class or that test…_


	5. A Way To Get Lost In You

Chapter 4 - Part 2

**Peeta:**

When I walked in Physics and saw Katniss sitting by the window alone, my jaw dropped. Thankfully, she had already turned away and didn't see my reaction. Without even considering sitting anywhere else, I walked straight over to the seat next to her and sat down. I watched her stare out the window. _She's so beautiful… Jesus, Peeta! Would you stop! She doesn't want you! _Before I can look away, she turns back around to look at me. _Shit, she caught me staring. She's gonna be pissed… Wait, why isn't she getting mad? Why is she staring back at me like that? Could she…? _

"Hey Katniss." I say really quietly. _I'm sure I've already freaked her out, no need to make it worse… I should just leave her alone. _I look down at the table when she doesn't say anything. _Well, at least she didn't freak out and yell at… _my thought's cut off by her quiet voice.

"Hey Peeta." I look back up at her and find she's still watching me. There's a softness in her eyes I only see when she looks at Prim. So why is it there now? Especially when she's looking at me? _Could she maybe care about me? No… But maybe… Could I hope?_

I try to think of something to say, but before I can, the bell rings and Mrs. King comes in and starts talking. The only things I hear are her welcoming us and telling us to call her Miss Cecelia, then I just space out again. I start thinking about home, or what used to be my home. It's so lonely since both of my brothers left, whether or not Mother is there. Though, I really prefer when she's not there. I didn't always hate Mother. We used to be a pretty happy family, but that was before Dad died. Mother always had a bit of a temper, but she never used to hit any of us or call us names. When we were little, the worst punishment we would get when Mother got mad was her yelling at us then going to bed without desert. Dad would always sneak us a treat later and I always thought Mother didn't stop him because she felt bad for getting so mad and yelling. My dad always had the biggest heart and was the most amazing person I've ever met. he simply loved life, but he didn't love anything more than he loved my brothers and I. Mother always says she hates how much I look and act like him, but I think it's just because she misses him so much…

"…partner is next to you." I hear Miss Cecelia say. _Wait. What? What is she talking about?_ I feel someone nudge my side and flinch a little. _I really wish these bruises would heal._

"Sorry." I hear Katniss say really quietly. I turn and look at her still confused. She tilts her head to the side a little while looking at me. "You didn't hear anything she said, did you Peeta?" I frown a little and shake my head. "That's ok. She just said that we'll be doing labs and that our partners are whoever is sitting at the table with us." She looks down after she says this. "If that's ok with you. It's ok if you don't want to…" _What? Why wouldn't I want to be partners with her? She's the one who shouldn't want to be partners with me._

She's still looking down, so I reply quietly. "Of course it's ok with me." Her head shoots up and she looks a little shocked when her eyes meet mine. Though, her shock is quickly replaced by a huge, breathtaking smile. My heart stutters a little and I feel like I can't quit breathe, but I can't help the small smile I give her in return. We stare at each other for a few minutes until we hear someone clear their throat in front of us. I turn quickly and see Miss Cecelia looking at both of us with a smile.

"Here's your first lab. Copy the notes on the board and get started," she says still smiling. We both nod and she walks away to finish handing out the lab papers. I look down at the paper and see that we have to make an atom. _Well this is going to take a while…_ I sigh and start writing the notes on the board about atoms and nuclei. "Oh, by the way guys, this is due two weeks from Friday," says Miss Cecelia as she sits down at her desk. _Shit, that's only 16 days._

"When would you like to start on this?" asks Katniss. I turn to her and see a small smile on her face.

"Whenever you have time, I guess…" I sigh and look back at my paper. _I wish I didn't have to inconvenience her. _

**Katniss:**

Peeta sighs and looks away. _I wish I could cheer him up a little… _"When would you have time for us work on it? I mean, the only thing I really do after school is look after Prim, but you're more than welcome to come over to my house…" I trail off as I blush a little. He lifts his head up and looks at me. His eyebrows are scrunched together, with a small frown on his lips, and he's looking into my eyes like he's searching for something. I just tilt my head a little and smile at him, hoping it'll help him figure out whatever is confusing him. He stares at me for another few moments, then gives me a smile. It's not a big smile and it doesn't show any of his perfect teeth, but it's bigger than any I've ever see him give. My heart stops and my jaw falls open. _That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen._ I must've been staring at him with my mouth open like a creeper, because he starts waving his hand in front of my face.

"Katniss? Are you ok?" he says sounding worried. _Peeta's worried about __**me**__? _The sound of his voice makes me snap out of it and I shake my head.

"Yeah… It's just… Umm… What?" I ask confused and start blushing.

"How about Saturday? I don't work at the bakery on the weekend," he says smiling a little again.

"That's fine," I reply smiling. "But umm… Why don't you work on the weekends anymore?"

"Oh… My mother hired some more competent help…" he says looking down again. _How could anyone be more competent in a bakery than Peeta?! I don't even think his dad was as good a baker as he is. And his dad was amazing! _

"Oh… Umm… Ok well, if you don't mind spending your Saturday with me, then that's perfect," I say smiling at him again and he smiles back.

"Sounds good," he says still smiling a little. I'm amazed to see that even his eyes look a little happy and holding a slight hopefulness again. _So beautiful…_ "What?" he asks looking confused and a little shocked. _Did I just say that out loud?!_ "Yeah, and that too." He smirks. Whoa, he's actually smirking at me!

"Oh… I umm… I…"Cough. "I…" **_Beeeeeep!_** I jump a little then realize it was just the bell to end last period. I take a deep breath and look back at Peeta. He's still watching me. I blush and look down. "Sorry…" I whisper.

"For what?" he whispers back. I looked up at him to find him watching me looking curious.

"For being weird…" I blush harder and look away, before looking back at him to see his reaction. We stare at each other for a moment, then he smiles at me again. I can't help but to smile back.

"Ready, Brainless?" I jump a little and turn to see Johanna standing in front of our table. She's smirking and looking back and forth between Peeta and me.

"Yeah, sure Jo," I say rolling my eyes. I turn back to Peeta and see he's lost his smile. "I'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok, Katniss. See you later." He turns to start putting his stuff in his bag. I just sigh and grab my things. Once we get out of the classroom, I turn to Johanna. "Thanks Jo. That was so helpful." I roll my eyes.

"I'm so sorry for ruining your moment with Bread Boy in there. My bad," she says sarcastically. I roll my eyes at her again and she just laughs. "So how'd you manage to get him to actually smile?" she asks and I look at her with my mouth hanging open. "Yeah, I saw it. How'd you do it?"

"I honestly don't know. Maybe he's just having a good day," I replied with a shrug. _I don't know, but I wish I did so I could do it again. I already miss his smile… _

"Doubt it. I guess you didn't notice how he was looking at you, huh?" she asks with a smirk.

"Huh? How was he looking at me?" _He was probably looking at me like I'm crazy. I'm sure that's what he thinks._

"Almost like the sun shines out of your ass. But, you know, the Peeta form of it. Less enthusiasm, but it was still there." She smiles at me and my jaw drops.

"You must've been seeing things. I'm sure he just thinks I'm crazy or weird or something…" _There's no way he could've been looking at me like that. But I wish he was…_

"You can be so clueless sometimes, Brainless," she laughs. I just sigh and shake my head as we walk to the parking lot.

**Peeta:**

I watched Katniss and Johanna leave the room before turning back around to pick up my bag. I noticed something small and white sitting on Katniss' chair. I pick it up and see it's a folded piece of paper. _Maybe it's notes or something. I hope she doesn't need this. _I grab my stuff and rush out of the room to look for her, but I don't see her or Johanna. I sigh and look down at the paper. I get curious and start to unfold it when I notice my name. It looks like a note. _But why would my name be on it? _I start to read it and find out it was between Katniss and Madge. It's from after gym.

_"How was gym?_

_Awesome. Jo and I whooped Gale and Thresh's asses in a basketball game. Even Peeta looked a little impressed._

_I'm sure he was. ;-) I'm impressed and I wasn't even there!_

_I wish you could've been there with us. That would have made it perfect._

_Are you sure it wasn't perfect enough with Peeta there?_

_No, he didn't even want me to sit with him._

_ Aww Kat, I doubt it was because he doesn't like you. _

_It's pretty obvious he doesn't like me, Madge. And I'd be ok with that if he was actually happy. You know? _

_ Yeah, I know, Kat. But what can we do? He won't talk to anyone."_

Well, this raises a lot of questions in my head. _Why would me being in gym make it perfect? She really did want to sit with me? Why would she want me to like her? And why would it matter is I'm not happy and don't talk to anyone? _Well, it's seems as though I've been kind of oblivious of some stuff. I never imagined that someone could ever actually care about me. I mean my own mother doesn't, so why should anyone else? But maybe someone can. Maybe that someone could be Katniss._ But I shouldn't get my hopes up. I'm sure they didn't mean it like that…_

I sigh. Well, it's time to go home and see if Mother's there…


	6. Stories and Plans

** AN: **I hope you guys like this chapter. Not muh happens, but it should start picking up soon, since i have some intense ideas for it. Hope you like it :-)

Ps~ I don't own the Hunger Games or the characters, just this story.

Thanks guys! :-)

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

**Peeta:**

I pulled my black pickup truck up in front of the bakery that used to be my Dad's. I look up at the sign that my dad hand painted and sigh. Of course Mother couldn't even keep up the sign, it wasn't important enough to her. Just the money, always the money now. I shake my head and walk in the door. I walk to the back by the register and see Cressida sitting there reading a newspaper. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. _Thank God. Mother's not home yet._ "Hey Cressida. How's it been today?" I ask as I walk behind the counter and head for the kitchen.

"Hey Peeta. It's been pretty slow, but maybe it'll pick up some in a little while," she replies before going back to her newspaper.

I walk into the kitchen and head straight for the sink. After washing my hands, I check the board by Mother's office to see what all I need to make. There are a few different breads, rolls and cookies that are needed. I check the list on the desk below it and see there's a cake needed for Saturday. _I'll have to try to get that done Friday night. I'd hate to make Katniss mad at me because I had to be here instead of helping her with the project._ I start getting the ingredients for the breads I'll have to make first. As I start mixing everything, I start thinking about my dad. I remember the last family trip we went on. Dad had decided he wanted to take us to Disney World in Orlando. Dad said it would be more fun to drive, but Mother said we should fly so we could have more time there. They decided on the end of July, just a few weeks before school started again, for our trip. The whole thing was prefect. We flew down Monday morning, checked in at the hotel, stopped at Ihop for lunch and went to the park. My brothers and I couldn't decide where we wanted to go, so my parents decided on Animal Kingdom since it was the only one we didn't want to see. That way, we would be able to get it out of the way and see all of the animals with our partial day there and save the full days for the parks we wanted to go to. It was amazing. All of the animals were awesome and the Tree of Life was even bigger and cooler in real life. We spent all afternoon and evening in the park, then picked up some dinner and went back to the hotel. For the next three days, we'd wake up early, eat breakfast and head to a different park. We went out to dinner the other nights, but on Thursday night, we went back to the airport instead of the hotel. My parents wanted to get back before the weekend rush at the bakery. When we got home, my brothers and I all stumbled out of the car, so my dad picked me up and carried me into the house to my room. That was honestly the last time I can remember feeling truly happy and loved.

My dad died a few weeks later coming home from visiting his brother, who only lived two hours away at the time. It was let at night and he was tired, so he didn't see the car coming into his lane until it was too late. The other guy had fallen asleep and drifted over into the oncoming lane where my dad was. He only got a broken leg and a bunch of bruises and cuts from the accident, while my dad died at the hospital. Mother wasn't the same after he died... So now I just try to do whatever she tells me to do correctly and stay out of her way, which is why I usually spend all weekend at Gale's.

I can't let _anyone _know any of that, though, because then they'll just pity me and I can't stand that. I deserve the beatings, the yelling and the names, but not the pity. And even the people who wouldn't pity me, like Thresh and Gale, would still look at me differently… Hell, they might even agree with her. I don't think I could stand it if they said those things to me, even if it is true. Besides, what if Katniss found out? I couldn't bear it if she thought that way about me. I know there's really no chance she'll ever want to be with me, but her thinking of me only as Gale's friend is better than her thinking I'm worthless, stupid, ugly, clumsy and the worst thing that's ever happened to her, like Mother.

I shake my head to clear it and check the time. It's already 9 o'clock, closing time. I quickly clean up the kitchen and walk out to the front to check on Cressida.

"All done, Peeta?" she asks as she puts the broom away.

"Yeah. Did you need any help?" I ask looking around.

"No, I just finished. Let's go ahead and lock up so we can go home," she says walking to the door. As soon as I'm through the door, she sets the alarm then closes the door and locks it. "Good night, Peeta. See you tomorrow."

"Night, Cressida." I say as she walks to her car. I get in my truck and drive around the corner to our house. _Thank God I don't have homework. I can just eat something and go to bed._

**Katniss:**

After Gale dropped off Prim and I, we sat on the couch for a while watching tv. We were watching the History Channel when Prim turned to me with a serious expression. "Katniss, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Little Duck. What is it?" I ask turning to her.

"Umm… How can you tell if a boy likes you?" She blushes and looks down.

"I think it depends on the boy. Why? Who do you think likes you, Prim?" I ask curious.

"It's… Jackson, Johanna's little brother. He was acting kind of weird today. He kept looking at me, but wouldn't talk to me very much. I'm starting to think either he likes me or I did something to make him mad." She sighs.

"Well… Was he blushing when he stared at you? Or did he look mad?" _There's no way that he doesn't like her._

"He kept blushing and would open his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he would just close it and look down instead." She has a small smile on her face.

"I think he likes you, Little Duck." She blushes. "So… Do you like him?" I ask.

"I umm… I don't know…" She blushes a deeper red and I smile.

"It kind of looks like you do. So why don't you just try talking to him? You guys have been friends as long as Jo and I have. And besides, how could he not like you?! You're amazing Prim and so very pretty." I love my little sister so much. We've always been really close and I'd do anything for her. She is by far my favorite person. She's, also, by far the prettier one of us two, with long blond hair and bright blue eyes that she got from our mother. I, on the other hand, got our dad's black hair with grey eyes. Prim gets noticed a lot more than I do, which I prefer, actually. Except for that one guy named Cato last year that kept popping up everywhere and tried hitting on me every time. He grabbed my arm when I turned to walk away the last time he tried to flirt with me and I punched him in the nose. He's left me alone ever since.

"Do you really think so, Kat?" she asks with a small, hopeful smile on her face.

"Of course, Primrose!" I exclaim rolling my eyes and smiling.

"Thanks Kat! I'm going to go call Rue!" she runs off to her room smiling. _Oh, to be 14 and have easy relationship problems…_ I chuckle and shake my head. _I wish my problems were that easy. I hope Prim never has to go through liking someone who doesn't like her back. _I sigh and get up to make dinner. I rummage through the kitchen and find the ingredients to make spaghetti and I start cooking. I may not be the best chef ever, but I can take care of Prim and I pretty well since our parents work so much.

Just as I'm straining the noodles, I hear my phone _ding_ alerting me that I have a text. I put the noodles in a bowl and pick my phone up.

_What's for dinner, Brainless? _ Jo, of course. She's been coming over more and more lately. I think it's because she doesn't get along with her parents very well.

_Spaghetti. Why? Are we going to be grace with your presence again tonight my lady?_ I laugh and set my phone down to finish the spaghetti. _Ding._

_I suppose. But I want my dinner on the table with candles and champagne. _I roll my eyes.

_Really Jo? Champagne? What, no wine? _

_ Of course not. A lady only drinks champagne with fancy dinners._ I chuckle.

_I don't know how fancy it'll be, but you're more than welcome to join us. You know that. _

_Good. I'm outside. Open the door._ I laugh and go to open the door for her. I roll my eyes as she pushes past me and heads for the kitchen. "Where's my dinner, woman?" she asks as she sits at the table.

"I'm so sorry darling. You must be starving after such a long day at work." I glare at her, then smirk. "Dinner Prim!" I yell. I get three plates out and start putting spaghetti on them when Prim walks in and sits next to Johanna. I give them their plates then sit down with mine. After a few minutes of silence, I say, "Prim." As she looks at me I nod in Johanna's direction. Her eyes get really big and she shakes her head really fast. "Prim," I say again and nod my head at Johanna again. She just keeps shaking her head.

"Ok. What is it? Do I have something in my teeth?" asks Jo as she starts sucking on her teeth. I roll my eyes.

"No, Jo. You look perfect. I just think Prim should talk to you about something," I say looking pointedly at Prim.

"What is it, Primmy?" Jo asks turning to Prim.

"Nothing," she says blushing and looking down at her plate. I sigh and mouth "Jackson" to her. She raises her eyebrows and looks at Prim again.

"Have you talked to him?" she asks Prim. Prim glares at me before turning to Jo.

"Not yet. I was going to try to tomorrow. What do you think he'll say?" She's blushing again and Johanna smirks.

"Probably how in love with you he is. The boy's had a crush on you forever," Jo says rolling her eyes. Prim mouth drops open. "You didn't know?" Prim shakes her head with her mouth still hanging open. "Well, I guess these things aren't as obvious to some people," she says looking at me. Prim turns to me, too, confused. I shake my head and sigh looking down at my plate.

"We weren't supposed to be talking about me," I mumble and Jo just laughs.

"What are you guys talking about?" Prim asks. Jo just laughs some more.

"Nothing," I mumble again. Jo laughs even harder which makes Prim chuckle and shake her head.

"Our little Kitty Kat here," Jo starts as she finally starts calming down, "doesn't believe me that a certain blond baker boy is madly in love with her." She stares at me with a smirk on her face. Prim looks at me shocked.

"How do you not know that, Katniss?" asks Prim. I feel the heat on my face and know it's a deep red. I get up and put my plate in my sink. I walk towards the living room but pause for a moment.

"He must not know it either, then," I say before walking into the living room so they leave me alone about it.

"Did something happen?" I hear Prim whisper.

"She got him to smile. Like he actually smiled," Jo whispers back. I sigh and pick up my copy of The Bell Jar off the coffee table. I tune them out and start reading. I don't know how long I sit there reading, but the next thing I know, they both come walking in with huge smiles on their faces.

"Oh God… What now?" I sigh. They both just laugh and sit down on either side of me. They stare at me with their huge smiles and I start to get nervous. "What?!"

"You need to make a move on Peeta," Jo says. _Well, you have to love her bluntness. _I sigh and shake my head.

"Guys. He. Does. Not. Want. Me." I say slowly. Johanna rolls her eyes.

"Seriously, Kat. How dense can you be?" she asks sarcastically. I shake my head and stand up.  
"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. See you tomorrow Jo. Good night Prim." I mumble walking towards the hallway.

**Johanna:**

We wait until we hear her bedroom door close, then Prim turns to me. "Were you serious? Did she actually get him to smile?"

"Yep. You should've seen how he looked at her." I roll my eyes. "Bread Boy's head over heels for Brainless in there."

"Then why aren't they together? I know Kat's loved him forever," she says with a little smile.

"Because your sister is oblivious and Peet's in denial." I sigh. _Damn it! Why do they have to make this so hard? _"Don't worry, Primmy. I'll think of something." I smile at her then get up to leave. "Maybe I'll get some help from our friends." She smiles as I leave and closes the door behind me. _It'll have to be something good…_

**Katniss:**

I spend the next 2 days trying not to think about the comments Johanna and Prim made. This isn't as hard as it could be, though, because Peeta doesn't really talk to me, or anyone for that matter. I tried talking to him in lunch and Physics, but he would just shrug. All he would do is draw in his notebook or stare out a window.

While sitting in English on Friday, I decide to write Johanna a note.

_"Believe me now?" _I write and hand it to her.

_"No." _she writes back. I look at her confused, but she just stares at my uncle with a smirk.

_"Why not? He won't even talk to me." _I hand it back to her and she just shakes her head.

_"Haven't you noticed he hasn't been talking to anyone, Brainless?"_ I sigh.

_"Of course I noticed. But what can I do about it? He wouldn't even talk to me when it was just us in Physics yesterday!"_ She shrugs after reading it and starts writing.

_"Maybe there's something bothering him. Or maybe your boobs just distract him and he can't think of anything to say." _She laughs and I roll my eyes.

_"Oh yes, that has to be it. Really Jo? My boobs?!" _I glare at her as she reads it and she just laughs quietly.

_"What? You have a nice rack!" _I roll my eyes and slouch in my chair with my arms crossed.

**Johanna:**

I smile to myself. _Good, now she's not paying attention. I can get my little plan started… _I pull out my phone and text Gale. _"Hey Gale. What's up with Peeta lately?" _After about a minute, my phone lights up letting me know I have a message.

_"Hey Jo. I don't know. Why?"_

_"Just wondering... Hey, would you want to take Kat to the bakery later?"_

_"I can. Why?"_

_"You'll see. Just take her and watch them. And let me know how it goes, ok?"_

_"Ok. Talk to you later then."_

I smile as the bell rings.

**Katniss:**

I love Johanna. She is practically a sister to me, but she can be so damn childish sometimes. What in her crazy mind makes her think that Peeta likes my boobs?! The guy won't even talk to me anymore, but to her it means he wants me. Sometimes I just don't get her…

I hear the bell ring and I turn to look at Johanna. She's smiling at something and staring at me. "Why so happy, creeper?" I ask with my eyebrow raised.

"Oh, nothing… You'll see!" she says and stands up to leave.

"You're so ridiculous," I mumble rolling my eyes at her. She walks off to her last class and I head for Physics. As I walk through the door, I see Peeta already at our table. He's bent over his notebook with his hood up drawing again. I sigh watching him as I walk over. He looks even sadder than he has lately. His eyes are a little dark and his face is a little pale.

"Hey Peeta," I say as I sit next to him in my seat. He glances up at me and locks his eyes on mine for a brief moment before looking back at his notebook.

"Hey Katniss," he whispers. I cock my head a little just watching him as he continues drawing.

"What's wrong, Peeta?" I ask quietly. He looks up at me with a shocked expression. His mouth opens then closes. He stares at me for a few moments. "You can talk to me, you know. If you want…" I whisper to him.

He nods. "I know," he says with an almost half smile. "I'm fine though." He watches me for another minute until the bell rings, then he turns back to his drawing.

I sigh and lay my head on my crossed arms on the desk looking out the window. I listen as Miss Cecelia starts explaining the lesson for the day and only sit up to take notes. I watch Peeta out of the corner of my eye occasionally and see him still drawing. I can tell he's not paying any attention to Miss Cecelia and I'm glad he's not getting caught. _I'll just let him copy my notes later, if he wants…_ There are a few times that I glance at him to see him looking at me for him to just look back at his drawing.

Before I know it, the final bell rings. I pack up my stuff and turn to Peeta. He's still concentrating on his drawing, so I lightly set my hand on his. "Time to go, Peeta." He looks up at me briefly and nods. After he packs up him things, he stands up and I follow him out of the room. We walk in silence for a few minutes until I see Johanna waiting at the end of the hallway. "Are you still coming over tomorrow?" I ask.

He glances at me then nods his head. "Yes," he replies quietly.

"What time would you be able to come?" I ask still watching him. He just shrugs and keeps walking. "Ok… How about around 12? I can make us some lunch before we get started on it." He looks up at me with that slightly shocked expression again.

"You don't have to…" he says shaking his head with his eyes wide.

"I want to." I give him a small smile and the corners of his lips curl up in response.

"Ok, then that sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow," he says smiling a little more and turning the corner where Jo's waiting. He gives her a small wave and keeps walking. I watch him for a few more moments before turning to Jo. _No one should be that sad… especially Peeta._ When I look at Johanna, she's smirking at me. "What?" I ask defensively.

"Nothing, Kat. Nothing at all." She smiles wider as she turns and starts walking with me towards the parking lot. I shake my head and sigh. _One of these days Jo…_


	7. Let Me Inside

**AN: **Sorry it took so long! It should start getting really interesting soon... :-)

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

**Katniss:**

After Gale dropped Prim and I off at home, we decided to lounge around, eat ice cream and watch a movie. I let Prim choose the movie while I went to the kitchen for the ice cream. I grabbed some cookies and cream for Prim and cookie dough for me, then walked back into the living room to find her sprawled out on the couch with the menu for Snow White and the Huntsman playing.

"Where'd you get this, Prim?" I asked as I handed her the ice cream.

"Rue, of course. She said it's AMAZING!" she replies bouncing up and down on the couch. I just laugh and sit crooked in the chair with one leg over the arm rest. We both lose ourselves in the movie. I find myself rooting for the huntsman the whole time. I don't tend to be a very girly girl, the kind that faints at the sight of a cute boy, but there's just something about Chris Hemsworth that makes his absolutely wonderful.

It's just at the part where they think Snow White is dead and the huntsman is talking to her, when a sudden loud noise makes me jump. I look around and see my phone on the table in front of me lit up saying I have a text message. I sigh and glance at Prim to see her clutching a pillow a little teary-eyed. I pick up my phone and see the text is from Gale.

_"Wanna go to the bakery with me?" _Well, that's kind of random.

_"I guess. When?" _I don't mind going, but I'm not bailing on Prim in the middle of a movie. I look up in time to see the huntsman kiss Snow White. I sigh. _Do kisses like that actually exist?_ My phone goes off again and I open the message.

_"When can you go?" _I look at Prim and see she's still glued to the movie.

_"About an hour? I'm in the middle of a movie with Prim." _I turn back to the movie to see Snow White waking up. _I know it was the hot huntsman!_ Just as she starts to talk, my phone beeps.

_"That's fine. See you in a bit."_ I set my phone back on the table and go back to the movie.

**Peeta:**

When I walked in the bakery after school, I found Cressida behind the counter again and said "Hello" to her. She said "Hi" back and I walked back into the kitchen. The board said we mainly needed bread, so I got started pulling everything out to make some loaves. As I was making the dough, I started to think about the phone call I received from Mother yesterday. She had called while I was getting ready for school and was in a horrid mood even that early in the morning.

_"Peeta, how is the bakery and the house?" she asked sounding aggravated, which was the voice she usually had when talking to me. _

_"They're both fine, Mother. Cressida and I have been taking care of the bakery and I've been cleaning up the house." I was hoping that would be enough for her and she wouldn't get upset._

_"Both better be in perfect condition when I get back," she snapped._

_"Yes, Mother. Can I ask when you'll be back?" I held my breath, waiting for her to yell._

_"I don't know. Soon," she snapped again. I heard her mumble "Worthless" then she hung up. I had let out my breath, sighed and went to school. _

I have learned by now there's nothing I can do to make Mother happy. I never do enough at the bakery or at home. My grades are never high enough, though they're mostly A's with one of two B's. She hates the way I dress. She even hates my friends, though I never bring them around her. It's almost like she has this image in her head of the perfect way she wants me to be and I just fail miserably at it. It doesn't bother me, but it irritates the hell out of her.

I sigh and shake my head. I start thinking of everything I need to get done before I go over to Katniss' house tomorrow. _Katniss… I can't believe she touched my hand._ Shit, I sound like a girl. I can't seem to help myself, though I know she'd never want me. She's just so kind and gentle. I didn't know there were still people like that…

"How's it going back here Peeta?" I jump at the sound of Cressida's voice in the doorway.

"Oh. Uhh…" I look on the counter at the 6 mounds of dough I have out rising. _Thank God I can do this shit on autopilot now. _"Good. I was just about to work on that cake for tomorrow. Did you need anything?"

"No. Actually, I was thinking of going to pick up something to eat. Would you like something?" she says smiling at me. I like Cressida. She's worked here for a few years and Mother seems to trust her enough to manage the bakery when she leaves, which of course means she trusts her more than she does me.

"No thanks. But you go ahead. I'll watch the front while you're gone," I say and she smiles at me.

"Thanks Peeta. I'll be back soon." She smiles again, grabs her purse and leaves.

I sigh and look around. _I might as well clean up some so Cressida doesn't have to do it later. _So I start straightening up the croissants, rolls, cookies and everything. I had just started sweeping when I heard the bell for the door rings.

"Can I help you with someth…?"I trail off as I look up and see Gail walking towards me. "Hey man, what's up?"

"Not much. Just coming to say hey and see if we can con you out of something tasty," says Gale laughing. _We? I didn't see anyone else…_

"We?" I ask.

"Hey Peeta," says a soft voice. _No fucking way…_ Gale moves away to check out the cupcakes and there she is. Katniss. My breath catches as she smiles at me and I really hope no one notices.

"Hey Kat. How's it going?" I try to say in a normal tone. _Calm down, stupid. There's no way she wants you. _

"Not bad." She smiles at me. "How's it going with you?"

"Ok. It's been pretty quiet all afternoon. There's not much to do right now." I shrug.

"Where's your mom?" asks Gale suddenly.

"Out of town. She's visiting some of her family. Why?" I ask curiously.

"Oh. Just wondering…" he says looking a little relieved. _Huh? What was that about? _"So! Can I have a cupcake?" he points to a chocolate cupcake with blue icing.

"I guess, but you owe me dude." I hand him the cupcake and turn to Katniss. "Would you like something?"

She shakes her head. "No, I'm fine." She glances at the cabinet with the rolls and croissants, then looks back at Gale and I. I shake my head with a small smile that's only been happening around her and walk over to the rolls. I pick one up and hand it to her.

"Here. I think you'll like this," I say still smiling a little smile. _How does she do this? I can't even help smiling around her. Does she notice?_

She starts to shake her head, but Gale nudges her with his elbow. She sighs and smiles at me before taking it. "Thank you, Peeta." She takes a small bite, then her eyes get really big. "Oh my God. Peeta, these are amazing! Did you make them?" She has a really big smile and I can't help but to smile back.

"Yeah. I make most of it." I can feel the heat moving up my neck to my face. _How does she have this effect on me? No one ever has… I hope they don't notice me blushing! _"Umm… I decorate the cakes, too." Her eyes get really big again and she turns towards the cakes.

"No way… Which one's your favorite right now?" she asks smiling again.

"My favorite?" I ask and she nods. "Umm… Oh! Come back to the kitchen for a second," I say turning back towards the kitchen still smiling the little smile only she can get out of me. _Does she notice the difference? I want her to so fucking bad, but I don't think it'd make a difference or get her to actually like me. _I sigh and shake my head.

"You ok, Peet?" asks Gale. I didn't even notice he was following us. I turn to answer him and see he's staring at me looking confused.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" I say as my eyebrows rise.

"Oh, no reason…" he says before glancing at Katniss and smirking.

"Okay… Well, this is it." I open the big cake freezer at the very back of the kitchen and point to the 3 tier cake I've been working on. It was white with black designs. each of the layers have a black lace design around the bottom, with an old fashioned kind of paisley design on the rest of the bottom layer. It's the one I have to finish tonight. "It's for a couple's 50th anniversary. My favorite part is the cake topper." I close the freezer drawer and move over by the desk where we keep all of the paperwork. I pick up the cardboard with the cake topper on it and turn back to them. It's simple with the bride and groom standing next to each other holding hands. "I just finished repainting it this morning. It's the same one they had on their wedding cake 50 years ago." I look up at Katniss and see she has a small smile and wide eyes. It makes me smile, too.

"It's so beautiful…" she whispers staring at it. I watch her for a few moments, then glance at Gale a couple feet away. He's staring at us and smirks when he sees me look at him. I can feel my face getting red as he pulls his phone out and starts texting someone. I look back at Katniss standing in front of me and see that she's watching me with a big smile. I give her a small smile in return and turn around to set the topper back on the desk. Just as I set it down, I hear the bell on the door ring, followed by Cressida's voice saying, "Peeta?" I walk back out to the front with Katniss and Gale following me.

**Gale:**

Is this what Jo wanted me to see? The way he looked at her when she was admiring the cake topper and the way she's been smiling at him the whole time we've been here! They're so fucking crazy about each other. So why aren't they together? I need to tell Jo.

_"What the Hell?! Why aren't these two together yet?" _I text to her while they're still looking at the cake topper.

_"Because they're both brainless. They're perfect for each other."_ I hold back a laugh and look up at Katniss and Peeta just as he looks over at me. I give him a smirk and he turns red. _Holy shit, this is serious. Peeta doesn't blush or smile._

_"How can we get them together? It needs to happen!" _I hear a bell ring then someone call for Peeta. As we're walking back to the front, I get another text from Johanna.

_"I'm working on it… got any ideas?"_ I watch Katniss and Peeta for another moment before I respond.

_"I think we need to get Madge and Thresh in on this. Maybe even Prim…" _I sigh. This is going to be hard work, but so worth it. They've been in love with each other for so long and everyone but them knows it. We just need to get Peeta to open up… _Shit, this is going to be hard…_

**Katniss:**

I'm so happy to see Peeta in a better mood than he's been in the past few days. I'm pretty sure it's working in his dad's bakery. It was always his favorite place to be when we were all little. He's so good at baking and decorating all of it. That cake was absolutely beautiful. _I hope I get to have a cake like that one day…_ I've never actually thought about getting married, because the only person I've thought about that way doesn't want me like that. I sigh quietly and look up from the cake topper to see Peeta blushing and looking at Gale. When he looks back at me, I can't help but smile. _I wonder why he's blushing. There's no reason to be embarrassed of being talented like this. _I hear someone call Peeta's name and I glance at Gale. He's smirking at us while holding his phone. I just give him a confused look as I follow Peeta out to the front.

There's a really pretty woman who looks about 30 years old standing by the counter with a couple bags of food. "I got you some burgers and fries anyways, Peeta," she said setting the bags on the counter. "Hey Gale, Katniss." I smiled hesitantly and looked at her a little harder. She just smiled back and waited, watching me. I looked at her closer, medium length dark hair, deep blue eyes, a little taller than myself. I looked at her smile and it clicked.

"Oh my gosh! Cressida! How the heck are you?" I said walking over to her and giving her a tight hug. She had started working in the bakery before Peeta's dad died and we all would come in to see them almost every day. If it wasn't Mr. Mellark feeding us sweets, it was Cressida. Since he died, though, it had been hard for me to come to the bakery, because of missing him so much, as well as seeing how upset Peeta was and how upset his mother wasn't.

"I'm great! How are you? You've grown so much and gotten so gorgeous!" she says hugging me back just as tight. I feel the heat on my face and glance at Gale and Peeta, still hugging Cressida. They're both watching us. Gale has a huge smile on his face and Peeta had his new little smile. I felt my heart stutter a little looking at him and turned back to Cressida.

"I umm… I'm good," I said blushing even deeper. "You should see Prim. She's almost as tall as me now." I looked down at the floor still blushing. She just laughs.

"You should bring her by soon. I've missed both of you terribly," she said still smiling. I looked up at her and saw her looking at Peeta. I glanced at him and he blushed and looked down. _What did I miss? _I looked at Gale, who was trying to hold back a laugh.

"Of course. Do you work Sunday?" I asked scowling at Gale.

"I do," she paused and smiled wider, "but Peeta doesn't." She started chuckling and turned to take the food out of the bags.

"I know… He told me he has weekends off." I smiled at Peeta. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Gale and Cressida share a funny look. "We have a science lab we have to work on tomorrow," I explained quietly and looked down. _Ok, what am I missing here?_

"Uh huh…" I could hear the smile in Cressida's voice and I blush again. _What is wrong with me today?! _

"I uh… I'm gonna go look at the cakes by the window now." I glanced at Peeta, who was watching me with slightly pink cheeks. I gave him a small smile before I walked towards the cakes. I'm sure I look like I hate the cakes in front of me by the way I'm scowling, but, in truth, I'm just trying to figure out why Cressida and  
Gale were acting weird… and why I can still feel the eyes of the beautiful blond boy still standing by the counter…

**Peeta:**

I want so much to just walk over to her and ask her what she's thinking about. She's glaring so hard at that I feel it might burst into flames. She's starting to bite her bottom lip and I want so much to walk over to her, gently pull her lip from her teeth and ask her what's wrong. But I have a strong feeling that she wouldn't like that and would get mad at me. Instead, I turn back towards Cressida and Gale, who quickly look away from me towards each other and smile. _What's with people staring at me? Is there something wrong with my face? Well shit, that's a stupid ass question…_ I sigh as I walk behind the counter and sit on the stool to eat a burger.

"You ok, Peet?" asks Gale while he gives me a sad look. _Please don't fucking pity me man. _I nod my head and glance at Katniss. She's looking back at me and gives me little smile as our eyes meet. I feel the corners of my lips tug up in response. I hear a small gasp and look at Cressida as she looks away at Gale shocked. I look over at him, too, in time to see him nod with a huge grin.

The next thing I know, Cressida is walking over to Katniss and Gale is standing in front of me leaning on the counter. I raise an eyebrow at him and wait for him to explain what the hell is going on.

"What's going on with you and Kat?" he whispers with a big Cheshire cat smile.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I whisper back.

"What is going on between you and my cousin?" he repeats slowly. "You two are acting weird. Especially you, Peeta. I mean, you actually smiled at her." _Shit. Shit. Shit. He fucking noticed._

"I don't know what you're talking about, man," I replied trying to sound calm. _She can't know how I feel. She'd hate me._

"Don't bullshit me, Peeta. I'm not stupid, dude. Just fucking talk to me!" he says a little too loud. I see Katniss and Cressida look at us curiously from behind Gale. _This can't be happening! I've gotta get out of here. _

"There's nothing to talk about, Gale," I say through gritted teeth. "Just leave it the fuck alone!" I growl the last part before I stomp back through the kitchen and out the back door towards the woods and my favorite oak tree I always hide behind. I drop on the ground with my head in my hands.

**Katniss:**

I stare at the door to the kitchen for a moment in confusion. _What the hell just happened? Why did Peeta yell at Gale? _I look at Gale and see he's staring at the kitchen door, too. His face is red from anger, but he looks more worried than anything. "Gale… What happened?" I ask quietly.

"I… umm… I'm not… quite sure…" he says still watching the door. I look back over at the door and don't realize that my feet have started moving towards it. Once in the kitchen, I look around for Peeta.

"Peeta?" I walk through the kitchen towards the back door. "Peeta?" I say again while holding the door open. I scan the trees as I walk through the backyard. I stop by a big oak tree turn around in a circle still looking for him. "Peeta?" I call louder. I hear something very quiet. It almost sounded like a small gasp. "Peeta?" I ask again. I must have been hearing things, because there's still no answer. After looking around the back yard one more time, I head back in through the back door into the kitchen. I decide to leave Peeta a note, so I walk over to the desk where the cake topper is still sitting. On the opposite side of the desk, I find some large orange sticky notes and a few pens. I grab a pen and jot down a short message to him, then put the sticky note in front of the cake topper. _There's no way he won't find it there. _

When I get back to the front of the bakery, Gale looks at me and raises his eyebrows. I shrug and walk over to say good bye to Cressida.

"You two come back and see me soon," she says hugging me.

"Yes mam," I smile.

"Of course!" Gale says. "Peeta makes the best cupcakes." He starts rubbing his belly and we all laugh.

We wave to her one last time as we walk out the door.

**Peeta:**

I honestly can't believe she came looking for me. I was so shocked that I just sat there frozen for a few moments and by the time I got up to talk to her, she was already gone. As I walk through the kitchen to finish the anniversary cake, I notice something orange on the desk by the topper. I walk over to it and find it was one of my sticky notes. It's from Katniss.

_Any time you wanna talk, I'm here. X Katniss X_

She wrote her number at the bottom. I stare at it for a long time. I honestly can't figure out why she's being so nice to me. I sure as hell don't deserve it. It doesn't make sense for her to care for someone as useless and fucked up as me. It's not like I have anything to offer anyone… I shake my head and put the note in my pocket.

I'm just sitting down by the window with the cake and decorating utensils when Cressida comes in to check on me.

"You ok, Peeta?" she looks at me with a worried expression. I sigh and nod before turning back to the cake. "We were really worried about you, hun. Especially Katniss." She watches me with a weird expression. My brows wrinkle in confusion. _Where's she going with this? _"I think she likes you, Peeta." I groan.

"Not you too. Cress, there's no way she likes me. Why would she?" I shake my head and work on the cake some more.

"Maybe because you're very sweet and caring and rather handsome, if I might add," she says smiling at me. I feel the heat rise to my face as I shake my head.

"You're biased Cress. You're more like family then Mother is, so of course you think nice things about me. But that doesn't mean anyone else will."

"Oh sweetie, if only you saw yourself like we do…" she smiles sadly at me before walking back to the front. I sigh and shake my head again as I continue decorating the cake. _How could she honestly think someone other than her could think of me like that? She's like my older sister, so I guess it's normal for her to think that way about me. But I don't really think I'm the best judge of normal, especially about family. Family… I wish I could have a real one someday, but I'd have to find someone to put up with me long enough… No use getting my hopes up. _


End file.
